Research Associate

ABOUT US

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
To achieve our mission of a more free, just, and equitable society, we commit to working proactively to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our myriad endeavors such as recruitment, compensation, training, and advancement of staff. The best people-serving institutions make this commitment, and we seek to be a leader in the ways that we do so and learn from others. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment and recent actions taken toward building and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment.

College Excellence Program (CEP)
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (CEP) aims to identify and replicate practices and policies that significantly improve college student outcomes. Through our portfolio of projects, CEP works to improve colleges’ capacity to achieve high levels of success for all students and to eliminate disparities in postsecondary attainment and social mobility for students from low-income backgrounds and historically marginalized and underserved groups. Our work focuses on improving higher education institutions in six areas: ensuring high-quality learning, increasing completion rates, improving community college transfer and baccalaureate attainment, increasing post-college employment and earnings outcomes, ensuring strong access to college credentials of value, and achieving equity in outcomes across all domains. We advance those outcomes by quantitatively identifying and publicly elevating those colleges achieving excellent and equitable outcomes, conducting research on how those outcomes were accomplished, publishing reports and practical tools to support college leaders and practitioners interested in replicating effective practices, and conducting professional development programs for presidents, senior teams, boards of trustees, and others. Learn more about our work at https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/.

ABOUT THIS ROLE
As a core component of how CEP advances college reform, we research student success strategies and institutional capacities aligned to advance our mission. As a Research Associate, you will work with CEP’s Research and Innovation team to analyze data, build internal- and external-facing tools, and draft reports, case studies, and inquiry guides. You will also contribute to developing actionable insights into what college presidents, other senior leaders, and their teams can do to reform internal operations and external partnerships with employers and other educational institutions to advance student success and equity. The research products you assist in developing will inform the field and be used in professional development sessions, including presidential fellowships and convenings, state partnerships, and college-team training sessions.

You should apply if you thrive in applying meticulous detail to spreadsheets and data; you are strategic about organizing columns and rows to strengthen your team’s analytic capacity, and if there’s something amiss in the data, you’ll find it. You’ve spent time on teams that produce slide decks, memos, and other internal and external deliverables that ultimately land in the hands of top-level executives or explain expert research to general audiences. You love working with others to identify the best way to simplify complex ideas and string together a compelling narrative that leads decision-makers to action.

Reporting to a Senior Program Manager on CEP’s Research and Innovation team, this role is based in our Washington D.C. office with a minimum of 40% in-person work (approximately 2 days per week) and requires travel for up to five weeks per year. The salary range for this position is $62,500 - $72,500.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Qualitative and Quantitative Research:

• Use Microsoft Excel or other data tools like STATA or R to conduct data analyses using sources such as the National Center for Education Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistic